Seeing Red
by MayaLucayaFriar
Summary: "I thought you were done with Ranger Roy."/ /"It's for special occasions," she grinned. [Lucaya]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys :) I've decided to transfer my fics that I posted on Tumblr to somewhere that makes them easier to find. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

She found him in the gym, pounding his bruised knuckles into the worn punching bag. Sweat dripped from his forehead as he continuously slammed his fists into the red vinyl covering, grunting with each swing.

She watched him for a moment, back against the now closed door and arms crossed. Biting back one of the many nicknames she referred to him as, she pushed herself forward with her foot and edged towards him.

"Lucas?" she began, assessing the way he flinched when he heard his name.

"Maya?" he frowned, absent-mindedly wiping his brow as he flung one final punch before turning around to face the small blonde. "Why are you still here?"

She motioned towards her bag, wooden paintbrushes worn with age and dedication poking out of the side pouch. "I was finishing a piece for the gallery next week," she tilted her head to look past the boy and at the beaten punching bag, grinning, "What's wrong? Missed your rodeo and needed to vent?"

Despite his mood he let out a small chuckle, pulling off his padded gloves. "Just needed to let off some steam is all."

Maya bit her lip, considering her options.

When she decided to decline Riley's invitation of dinner at the Matthew's to finish her acrillic piece, all the girl expected was to paint, pack, and return home to snack on that Tuna Melt her mom left her. Running into a violent-cowboy-sort-of-friend-maybe-best-friend of hers wasn't something she had planned on. She only ever was around Lucas when he was Riley 2.0, all good-humour and hospitality. And on the off-chance that he was angry she was never the only one to see him like that.

"Who was it?" she asked bluntly, choosing to see it through and see if she could be the one to fix something instead of break it for once.

He looked at her quizzically for a second, but ultimately chose to leave it. "...Billy."

"Ah," Maya scowled, chucking her backpack on the gym floor and stalking towards Lucas to help push the punching bag back into the storing cupboard. Not that he really needed any help, he obviously didn't struggle pulling it out in the first place. "Did he say something about Farkle? I swear if he even tries-"

"It wasn't about Farkle, Maya." he answered, pushing the bag with more force.

"Oh... then Riley? What, is she too _happy_ for him? Too _caring-_ "

"He was talking about you."

Maya ceased her pushing and snapped her head towards the taller boy. "Me? What did the punk say?".

"During lunch, soccer practice. I heard him laughing with his friends about you and..." he trailed off, jaw clenching and eyes darkening. Maya took a small step backwards, breath hitching as she saw his fists clench around the vinyl.

"...and?"

With a final forceful push, Lucas shoved the punching bag back into the cupboard and slammed the door. "And your family. How your father probably bailed on you as a kid because you were too much to handle even then, and how your mother only barely sticks around because she doesn't want the Matthew's to be stuck with you, and how as soon as you are old enough to live by yourself your mom will bail too because you-"

"-Lucas,-"

"-are disposable to everyone in your life, and how Riley only hangs out with you because she-"

"-Lucas!-"

"-only sees you as a challenge, something to fix for extra-credit, and Farkle only pretends to care about you-"

"RANGER RICK."

Lucas jumped, eyes focusing on the girl in front of him with fire in her eyes and fists on her hips. He sighed deeply, looking down at the ground and screwing his eyes shut to help calm himself down. "Maya, I-I'm sorry, I-"

"Would you just shut up for a second? Geez, let me get a word in!" she yelled, poking her index finger into his chest. "First of all, Huckleberry- it's adorable that you're this riled up about some loser's unimportant opinions on my life, but punching a bag of sand isn't helping anything."

"I also may have shoved him over," he added quickly, flinching at Maya's widening eyes, "and told him if he ever talked about you again he would answer to me."

"Lucas!"

"I couldn't help it, Maya! He was laughing about your life and making up stuff and you shouldn't have to deal with that! You know your mom loves you, and the Matthew's love you like you're part of the family," he shouted, gripping her by the shoulders. "Farkle is the most loyal and kind guy out there, he hangs out with you because he cares about you and considers you a best friend. I don't even need to explain how much Riley idolizes you, and as for me-"

Maya stared up at him as his voice faltered, avoiding her gaze and awkwardly letting go of her shoulders. She smirked, "And as for _you,_ Sundance?"

"You know what, it's getting late and we really should get going-"

"Oh no, no, _no,_ Friar, please do continue. What do you think about me?"

" _Maya_ ," he pleaded, backing away from the girl and heading towards the gym doors.

"Getting hot under the collar there, Ranger Roy?"

"I thought you were done with Ranger Roy."

"It's for special occasions." she grinned, gripping his arm and forcing him to look at her. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

"I..." he began, staring at her small hand gripped around his bicep.

"Yes?"

"I think that y-"

 _ **Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.**_

Riley's name flashed urgently on Maya's phone as she pulled it from her jeans pocket.

Glancing up at the Texan boy, Maya swiped her cell to answer the call and brought it up to her ear. "Hey, Riles."

" _We're finishing this tomorrow._ " she mouthed to him, before releasing his arm and strutting past to open the doors.

"Hey, Peaches!" Riley's chipper voice crackled through the speaker, "Did you finish your art yet?"

Lucas let out a sigh. _Thank you, Riley._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: And here is part two for ya :). I am honestly so tempted to do a fic purely about Lucas posing for Maya's art piece XD.**

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Lucas had been avoiding her all day.

He arrived to school half an hour earlier than usual to make sure he wouldn't run into Maya on the subway, he swapped seats with Farkle during History class just in case she tried to resurrect their earlier conversation during the lesson, and as soon as the bell signalled the end of Mr Matthew's lecture on the Cold War he bolted to gym.

Everything was going according to plan; no one questioned his seat-swapping, his mother chalked up his early departure as an eagerness to learn, and other than the back of her head in History, Lucas hadn't seen the flaxen-haired girl since their… _interesting_ conversation yesterday.

"Mr. Friar," the Coach called him over, beckoning him with a wave of his hand, "you're friends with Miss. Hart, correct?"

Until now.

"Uh, well…" Lucas mumbled, "You could say that."

"I'll take that as a yes and ask you to return this to her, then."

A packet of paintbrushes labelled _"Maya Hart's- steal these and I'll stab you with them"_ rested in the Coach's hand and Lucas suppressed a loud groan. She had a free period right now, which meant she would probably be tearing the art room apart in search of her tools.

Which meant he had to walk up and directly hand them to her.

Which meant she could ask him about yesterday's conversation.

He sighed.

"Yes sir."

* * *

He took a deep breath and turned the door knob to the room he assumed Maya would be in, incredibly aware of how strained his expression must have looked to the people he passed on the way from the gym.

There he spotted her- tucked into the corner, nails raking the curls from her face that was very blatantly frowning in annoyance.

And there she spotted him- awkwardly leaning against the classroom doors, paintbrushes held tightly in his right hand and an uneasy expression covering his features.

"Ranger Rick," she started, looking something akin to pleased. And then she rolled her eyes and looked back at her canvas. "Took you long enough."

"I was in a lesson, Maya."

"Oh yeah, the most important lesson ever created: Rope-climbing."

He chuckled and relaxed against the wooden frame of the door. "Have you just been staring at your canvas for twenty minutes? You know there _are_ probably _some_ spare brushes somewhere in this art room available to you."

"Don't get cheeky with me, Friar," she scowled playfully, "and for your information I only ever use _my_ paintbrushes." She rose from her seat and made her way over to him, plucking the packet out of his hand. "Riley got them for me."

He smiled as she quickly scanned her paintbrushes for any damage, and chose that moment to try and make his escape.

"So anyway, have fun painting. I gotta get back to gym cl-"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" she cut in, placing her paintbrushes on the table next to her canvas and turning around to meet his gaze. "We never got to finish our conversation from yesterday in the gym."

"So I'll just be going then-"

She jumped past him and blocked the door. "Nice try, Bucky McBoing-Boing, now spill."

"You know, I don't even remember what the conversation was about-"

"Oh well let me refresh your memory," she offered, flashing a coy smile and wrapping her hand around his arm. "Some low-life talked shit about me and you defended my honour, and when you were just about to tell me what you think about me, you got cold feet."

"I really don't see why you care so much about my opinion, Maya." he frowned, trying to ignore the warmth of her hand.

She blinked. "Are you kidding? Out of all the people in my life you are the _only_ person whose opinion I've never been given."

He looked down at her, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that every friend I have- albeit being a small number- constantly tell me how _talented at art I am_ , or how _honest and loyal I am_ , or how I am the _first person they would go to for advice_." she listed on her fingers as she spoke. "And every _bully_ I have encountered has told me their worthless thoughts on my family life, or my stand-offish attitude, or how my friendship with Riley even functions. But _you,_ " she frowned, voice only just above a whisper, "I don't have a clue about how you see me. _And that bothers me._ "

He remained silent for a while, watching her usually guarded eyes open up and stare him down as she waited for a response. The sarcasm and dry wit that she usually shielded herself with were gone in that instance, and as the silence dragged on and as he continued to observe her, she began to lose her calm and looked away, opting to focus on her paint-splattered shoelaces instead.

"You really care that much?" he questioned, causing her eyes to flit from her vans up to his face that had at some point been brought very close to hers.

The hopeful look in her eyes answered for him, and he sighed. "Maya, you are a lot of things to me."

She looked at him warily. "You better not turn this moment between us into an insult."

He chuckled, "You're funny. As much as I pretend to dislike your teasing, the truth is I actually enjoy it. Your nicknames make me laugh and I love to tease you back when I am given the chance."

"Is that all?"

"No, no. You're also ridiculously impatient."

"Try again, Huckleberry."

"I mean you're always ready for adventure and mischief and stepping outside the box. You're never truly satisfied with the day until you've broken a rule or a bone, and it means there's never a dull moment with you." he grinned "It keeps my life interesting."

"But I thought you liked the rules. Isn't that what Texas is all about? Square-dancing and following guidelines?"

"Life would be boring if you let someone else dictate what you can and can't do all the time, Maya. I know that."

"Alright, keep going."

"Well, you're smart," he held a finger when he saw her open her mouth to argue, "even if you don't see it yourself. Mr Matthews knows it, Riley knows it, Farkle knows it. I know it. I sit behind you in almost every class we have together, you think I don't notice your hand flinching on your desk when the teacher asks a question? You know the answer but seem to think that if you try at anything you'll fail. You refuse to put yourself out there even though you're probably as smart as Farkle."

She raised a brow.

"Okay well, he's most likely a robot so maybe not that smart. But you're up there, Maya!"

"Wow, Ranger Rick. You sure do pick up on a lot of stuff, don't you?"

"I like to make the odd observation." he quipped, throwing her a lop-sided grin.

"And what do you think of my looks?" she asked, the innocent tone of her voice clashing with the smirk she wore across her face.

"Y-Your what?" he stuttered. Maya's laughter rang through his head as she made a point of flipping her hair.

"Don't think I forgot about that Blonde Beauty comment Zay made. You really think I'm beautiful?" she grinned, jabbing his side with her elbow.

"Maya I'm not going to stand here and-"

"Oh come on, Cowboy. The first thing I said to you was "Hi I'm Maya, you're really cute", she mimicked the cheery persona she first addressed him with, "and you expect me to let you get away with not giving me your opinion on this?"

"You can ask anybody and get the same response Maya, it doesn't make it any more special coming from me."

"So you admit it."

"Yeah, I mentioned to Zay that you were beautiful once! Now can we drop this?"

He was about to shake her grip off of his arm until he caught her expression. "Thank you." she smiled, voice small and eyes uncharacteristically warm.

He stopped himself from tilting forwards and kissing her. "What for?"

"I don't hear it a lot and it's put me in a good mood."

Before she could stop herself, she reached up and pecked his nose. A faint blush crept onto his neck as he grumbled a quick "You're welcome, Maya."

"Now," she clapped her hands and turned away quickly to hide her own blush from his view. "I need help with this art piece."

"What do I have to do, ma'am?" he teased, ignoring the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. _That's strange._

"Pose for me?" she waggled her eyebrows and glanced over her shoulder to shoot him a pleading look.

"If I say yes will you kiss me again?"

"If you tell anyone about that I will _break_ you."


End file.
